NINE TIMES NINE emerged from a six-month residency in New Delhi, India, supported by Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council. The project, structured around the nine districts of Delhi, employs the principles of repetition and fragmentation as both a method and a conceptual framework.

Set against the backdrop of the metropolis’s endless, ever-changing landscapes, the work moves through both time and place, navigating between presence, displacement and alienation. A person shaped by differences – echoes of culture manifested in gestures, memories and patterns – who reflects on how these traces arise, remain, fade and take shape within the shifting flows of human existence.

The project, situated at the intersection of object, body and location, brings together sculptural and performative strategies. Nine silk sculptures function as mutable elements that activate the urban environment whilst mediating between visibility and concealment, individuality and collectivity. Through their placement in Hauz Khas Village, the work is integrated into a layered urban structure where history and contemporary cultural practices come together.

This project is constructed by the number nine. In the Indian culture, particularly Hinduism, the number nine is considered a sacred, divine number representing completion, fulfillment and the highest level of consciousness. It symbolizes the end of a cycle, wisdom and the divine feminine energy.

In this project, tradition, culture and modern influences and where one foot is in the past and the other in the future, are being incorperated. Nine silk sculptures have been develepped over six months time and being staged in the city centre of Hauz Khas Village in New Dellhi. Colour in India is deeply rooted in tradition, while also functioning as a nuanced visual language. Across regions and cultures, colours carry diverse meanings, shaped by geography, religion and local identity. The performance is based on nine classical indian dances and the electronical dance music of today. With these new sounds, two worlds become one. Is there enough place to keep our cultural rituals in this society or will they dissapear by the speed of our new modern world? A sound piece of nine minutes, is made in collaboration with musician and music producer : @chakraborty.hemant

The project engages in a dialogue in which tradition and modernity are not opposed but interwoven. The works, situated between past and future, present a fluid, unresolved state – a state that reflects the ongoing negotiation of identity within a globalised, multicultural context.

Nine images of Delhi’s districts, unfolding in time from a quiet backyard of the residency. Light drifts, shadows lengthen and the atmosphere shifts, tracing the fragile dialogue between time, architecture and the environment. Waiting becomes a method of patience and a gesture. The right moment emerges, then passes. Time gathers in intervals and repetitions, dissolving into the rhythm of the city.

The works reflect on the perception and construction of time – how it is experienced, remembered and recorded in material environments. Layers of paint, weathered walls and gradual decay become vessels of memory, revealing accumulated histories and the passing of the years. Through these surfaces and architectures, time is presented not as linear, but as layered – unfolding through textures, fragments and traces left behind.